The present invention relates to an animal decoy. While the invention is subject to a wide range of applications, it is especially related to a goose decoy suited for use during hunting.
Goose decoys have been used for centuries. The concept underlying the use of decoys is to artificially represent or “mimic” live geese. The decoys are arranged in a relatively large group (2-8 dozen) making them look as if “live” geese have landed in a field in order to feed.
The effective strategy for using decoys is based on the premise that geese that are flying in the area see the large collection of artificial geese (decoys) on the field. This conveys to the geese that are in flight that the area is safe (since large numbers of other “geese” are already on the ground) and that the field must have an abundance of food available. Consequently, the geese in flight circle and land in close proximity to the “flock” already on the ground. Usually, this coaxing of geese in flight is supplemented by the skilled use of goose calls that, when blown, mimic the sounds geese make on the ground as geese fly nearby. Geese are lured into landing and are then within range of hunters with shotguns. There are two basic types, or designs, of goose decoys available with each manufacturer having slightly different variations of the same concept.
The first type of decoy is the “full body” decoy, which is three dimensional and has the same basic size and shape of a live goose when standing on the ground. The advantage of this decoy is that it resembles as close as possible real geese in a field, which is the idea behind decoys. This type of decoy is manufactured as a mold or plastic extrusion, which is then painted to look like a goose. The finished product is hollow and lightweight, which has an advantage in one sense but also has very real disadvantages.
The major setback to the first type of decoy is its size. It cannot be broken down for ease of carrying or storage. It is not uncommon for a hunter to set out as many as six dozen or more of these decoys. The space required to store this number of decoys presents a problem. A hunter would need to have a significant sized trailer for transport as well as a place to store the trailer. In addition, the act of loading and unloading of the decoys for deployment is time consuming, with the average hunter only being able to unload, carry, and deploy at most four to five decoys at a time. This becomes a hassle when a hunter must deploy seventy-two decoys or more, four at a time with frequent trips back and forth to the trailer.
Another disadvantage of full body decoys is that they are not typically deployed and secured with a stake in the ground but instead are simply placed on the surface. When faced with inclement weather, this poses the problem of the decoys being frequently blown over and someone having to constantly set them upright. Inclement weather (windy, rainy, and snowy, often with frozen ground) is considered the most ideal for goose hunting. However, geese will not land in a field where decoys are blown onto their sides. And, as stated previously, the hunter must make frequent trips out of the blind to set them back on their supporting feet (only to have to repeat the process as often as necessary). When the hunter is out of the blind and walking among the decoys carrying out this task, geese will not land.
The second type of decoy commonly used is the “silhouette” decoy. This is a one dimensional decoy typically made from plywood cut in the shape of the outline of a goose. Although there are now commercially made silhouettes available, they are more likely to be made by the hunter. The advantage of silhouettes is that they are lightweight and easy to carry and deploy. A dozen silhouettes could easily be carried in a small duffle bag by the hunter, carried in groups of ten or twelve into the field, and deployed one by one without making multiple trips. A silhouette's compact size also means that storage represents much less of an issue with no need for a trailer since six dozen of these could be transported in the trunk of a car or in a sport utility vehicle. This greatly expands the range of hunters capable of using this type of decoy since there is no need for a truck or a large trailer for storage of the decoys.
One disadvantage of a silhouette decoy is that it is one dimensional. As geese fly close or directly above this type of decoy the silhouette shape is not seen. This could cause incoming geese to spook and move on. In addition, the entire manufacturing process is very time consuming for the hunter who chooses to build his own decoy. The hunter must obtain and transport the materials and tools required to produce silhouette decoys. Each decoy outline must be drawn on a sheet of ¼″ plywood, cut out, sanded, and painted. Finally, a stake is attached for deploying the decoy. The stake is made from galvanized metal stock ¼″ thick×1″ wide. It is then cut in lengths of 8-10″ and attached to each decoy, one at a time, with “pop rivets” or screws. There is also the issue of on-going maintenance since these decoys are made of painted plywood, which is not a maintenance-free material. Paint fades and peels, and plywood weathers and deteriorates, over time. It is not uncommon to need to, at minimum, repaint every decoy before each hunting season.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,191,304 discloses a turkey decoy, for use during hunting, that is designed to be stored and conveyed in a collapsible configuration, but can be erected into a three dimensional fully supported decoy. The body of the turkey is formed of an expandable nylon material and formed of an integrated configuration wherein every component of the body is expandable, as it is unfolded in a circular array from flat to a three-dimensional body part of the turkey. Although useful for turkey hunting, the decoy design of U.S. Pat. No. 8,191,304 would fail if used for goose hunting. For example, the design is too fragile to withstand the conditions of goose hunting as compared to turkey hunting. When hunting turkey, hunters are typically sheltered in a wooded area, which tends to diminish exposure to the extreme weather conditions of goose hunting. The wooded setting is usually without much, if any, wind. In fact, the presence of strong winds is usually a deterrent to turkey hunting. Therefore, while appropriate for its intended game and conditions, the decoy design of U.S. Pat. No. 8,191,304, even with modification, has flaws that would not permit it to withstand the strong relentless freezing wind, rain, and snow conditions often encountered during goose hunting. The support structure and “body” of the prior art decoy would most assuredly fail during conditions of goose hunting, thereby rendering the prior art decoy design inappropriate for goose hunting.
There is a gap in the current choices of decoys available in the market for goose hunting. Thus, there remains a need for a decoy that offers the best advantages of full body decoys and silhouette decoys such that when the decoy is deployed, it is three dimensional and equally effective as full body decoys but can also be easily stored, transported, and deployed as silhouette decoys.